


A Sweet Game of Chicken

by Kasen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Pocky Game, Sheith69min, pining shiro, pocky day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 21:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16584398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasen/pseuds/Kasen
Summary: Shiro wants to kiss Keith without the risk of ruining their friendship. Luckily for him, he knows just the game that will help him with his predicament.





	A Sweet Game of Chicken

Shiro was sweaty. More sweaty than usual. He ran his left palm over the fabric of his pants, mind whirling as he internally debated with himself.

_This is stupid! This is beyond stupid, Takashi. Don’t ruin everything you worked so hard to have._

_Shut up! You can’t live your life without at least_ trying _to see if there could be something more._

“Huurgh...”

“Ew, what was that? Oh... Shiro." 

Shiro walked past Matt lying on the couch of the Garrison common room and muttered that he would be right back before fumbling into his room with a white grocery bag in hand. He threw it across the room and onto his bed like it was a bomb, and returned down the hall and back to where Matt was now sitting up, curious. 

“Hey,” Shiro said, pretending he hadn’t just stormed in like a moody teenager. Matt shot his friend a look. 

“Keith problems?”

“Wh—”

Matts expression turned exasperate. 

_Damnit. I can’t hide a fucking thing._

“Sure. Yeah, Keith problems.”

“What now?”

“He uhh...” Shiro scratched his head. It wasn’t that something happened. The opposite was more true. Nothing happened. They were great. They were great, great, friends. Best buddies. Pals.

“Fuck,” Shiro breathed. A rare curse. He just needed to let it out. Shiro plopped onto the couch beside Matt and rubbed his face with the palm of his hands, digging into his eyelids until he saw stars.

“You just wanna kiss him huh?”

Shiro groaned into his hands and nodded. Only Matt knew this. Matt knew too damned much about Shiro given their close quarters. Shiro didn’t know he spoke in his sleep until the eldest of the Holt siblings recorded it and presented it to him; with subtitles and background images to assist with the hearing impaired; which Shiro wasn’t, giving him the horrendous feeling that Matt was going to spread that particular video to the world.

“I can usually hold back the urges but it’s getting worse.”

“He’s been looking extra fine lately, hasn’t he?”

Shiro shot his friend an intense glare. Matt raised his palms in surrender, and sat back on the couch, getting comfortable watching his friend breakdown in front of him.

“Yes. He has," Shiro admitted after a moment. Keith was looking like a goddamn snack, in fact. He had grown up in the last few years. He shot up in height, and bulked up in body mass. His hair had grown longer, hugging the nape of his neck; hiding it from Shiro’s prying eyes and accenting his soft, pale skin. His expression had softened as well —changing from the hard and isolating look he often shot others to something more gentle since reconnecting with his mother. Keith had become comfortable and confident in himself, and though the two years apart had been surprisingly hard on Shiro, he could never prepare himself for how Keith looked and acted around him now. It was almost just as hard having him back.

Their friendship was still there, yes, but Shiro couldn’t help but feel that there was a different type of spark between them. The romantic kind. Since Keith’s return to the Galaxy Garrison several months ago, Shiro couldn’t help but find Keith attractive. 

He was always looking at Keith.

“Dude, just tell him how you feel. If I have to sit through another one of your depressing sleep-talk sessions, I might actually suffocate you.”

“I’ll allow it,” Shiro said darkly.

Matt kicked his friend in the arm and sunk back further onto the couch. 

Shiro played with his hands, careful that his prosthetic didn’t squeeze his human fingers too tightly and accidentally cause a fracture.

_Maybe Keith would kiss it better._

Shiro shot up at the shameful thought.

“I have a problem. I need to put a stop to this.”

“So, what are you gonna do? Tell him? Just kiss him? Make him bunk with you instead so he can hear how gay you a—”

Shiro threw a Garrison branded pillow at his friend’s face. “I bought something that’ll help me bait him.”

“Bait him? That doesn’t sound honorable, Takashi-san.”

“I _know,”_ Shiro grumbled. It was why he was so nervous. It didn’t feel right, but he figured this was the safest way to test the waters without shit hitting the fan if things went awry. Shiro’s thoughts flashed to the tiny white plastic bag sitting on the corner of his bed. He’d have to grab the contents from in there and present it to Keith as soon as possible. Keith was the type to sleep early after a long evening of training. 

***

“Pocky Game?”

Shiro swallowed as he nodded at Keith. His friend was toweling dry the long hairs flowing over the back of his neck, the wet strands dripping from the shower he had just taken.

_Stop thinking about naked Keith._

“It’s something I would play all the time back home,” Shiro explained as he carefully opened the box of Pocky he had bought. “Uh, what flavor do you like, by the way?”

Keith shrugged. “I’m indifferent.”

“Course you are,” Shiro grumbled in his head, glad he had chosen chocolate since it was what he personally preferred.

“You seem grumpy today. Is everything alright Shiro?”

Shiro slammed his mouth shut, realizing that he had spoken out loud just then.

“I’m fine Keith! Sorry,” he chuckled awkwardly. Shiro opened the pack with too much vigor, and Pocky sticks exploded out of the plastic bag and onto Keith’s bed. “Shit...”

Keith laughed good naturedly at the carnage and picked up the broken cookie pieces. 

“Was that part of the game?”

“No,” Shiro sighed. He made Keith open his palms so he could inspect what the other salvaged. There was only one Pocky stick that remained completely intact. Shiro picked it out of Keith’s hand, holding it with his human hand; grip so light that it almost fell out of his grasp thrice as he tried to explain the game to Keith.

“It’s a game of confidence and stubbornness.”

“Traits we both seem to have,” Keith said with a nod and a teasing smile.

“Yeah,” Shiro grinned, heart flipping at how handsome Keith was. “This is basically a game of chicken. We both put one end of the Pocky in our mouths and bite through it until we reach the end.”

Keith sat up straighter at the claim. “Oh,” he said.

_God he’s so cute._

_Are you sure you want to ruin this?_

_But can you stand knowing you might be able to have more than what you already have?_

Shiro wanted to kick each thought to the ground. Unfortunately, he couldn’t, so he settled for ignoring them and continuing to speak to Keith, who now rested his towel over his shoulders in order to catch the droplets spilling over the tips of his hair. 

“The first person to break away loses.”

“Break away...” Keith repeated with a curt nod. His eyebrows were furrowed and expression serious. He looked like he wanted to win, which Shiro was totally okay with.

“Ready?”

“Can we do a practice round?”

Shiro cocked a brow. “This is the only whole piece I have...”

“So? It’s a game of chicken, like you said. The size of the Pocky won't matter as long as you aren’t the first to move away, right?”

“Technically, yeah,” Shiro croaked. He wasn’t expecting Keith to throw out the suggestion of a practice round. That meant potentially kissing him _twice._

 _I might die,_ Shiro concluded. “Ready?” He asked instead.

Keith nodded and leaned forward, mouth parted for Shiro. Shiro’s chest hammered at the sight. He almost crushed the Pocky stick in his hand, but stopped himself right as he felt the cookie stress under his grasp. Instead, Shiro placed the chocolate end in his mouth, and rested both palms on his lap, giving Keith free reign to move forward and bite.

“Three, two, one...” Shiro muffled over the cookie, heartrate increasing rapidly in anticipation. “Go!”

Shiro bit down on his cookie and leaned forward, ensuring that he still had part of the stick in his mouth as he continued biting down. Keith did the same, and in no time did their lips connect. Shiro didn’t know what he expected to happen after initiating the game. Frankly, he didn’t think he would get this far. The moment his lips connected with Keith’s, it was game over for him.

Shiro and Keith’s foreheads touched, and despite the close proximity, both gazed into each other’s eyes, Shiro looking at Keith with yearning, and Keith looking at Shiro with confusion. Shiro moved away from the soft, warm lips, and tried not to sigh longingly at the wet kiss sound that occurred when he pulled away.

“Wait, what happened? Who won?”

“You did,” Shiro explained. “I pulled away first.”

“Oh. I thought it was during the cookie eating part.”

Shiro scratched the back of his head, bashful. Despite his racing heart, a weird calm had settled over him. Even though he had just kissed Keith, it still didn’t feel right. It was missing something.

_It wasn’t genuine._

Shiro slowly pulled his hand away from the nape of his neck and lowered it back onto his lap. 

“It usually is,” he explained. “I guess we’re both too stubborn.”

Keith smirked at Shiro. “Competitive is a better word, I think.”

“And _I think_ I’m going to win the real round,” Shiro declared boldly. Keith’s crooked grin reminded Shiro why he was here. 

It was to kiss Keith. And god damn it he would kiss Keith all night if he had to. If Keith didn’t pull away, neither would he. Even if it got awkward, Shiro would just close his eyes until Keith backed off or until he fell asleep on the other, rendering the game a tie.

“I think you won’t,” Keith replied.

Shiro flashed Keith one of his own smirks before looking at the pile of broken cookies Keith had placed back into the respective plastic packaging. “I won’t count down this time,” Shiro said as he chose the biggest of the pile. “The second it’s in your mouth too, we go, okay?”

Keith nodded and repeated what he had done earlier, nose inching close to Shiro’s and lips slightly parted in anticipation of biting down on the Japanese cookie. When they played the second round of the game, Shiro tried not to gasp at Keith’s vigor. Their noses and lips crashed against each other. He almost pulled away at the pain, but remained pressed against Keith until the other backed away, rubbing his face.

“Okay wait, that doesn’t count.”

“What? Why not?” Shiro argued while beaming at the other. He felt like he had won. Keith could argue it as much as he wanted to. Shiro definitely wasn’t the one who pulled away first.

“I came in too quick,” Keith explained. “Hurt my nose.”

“Not my fault,” Shiro shrugged. Keith punched him lightly in the arm, and chose another Pocky stick. It was even smaller than the last.

Shiro tried not to gasp when Keith guided the cookie into his mouth. He was expecting Keith to hand it to him, not _feed_ it to him. Before Shiro could prepare himself, Keith propped himself on his knees and leaned into Shiro. He wrapped his lips around the Pocky, and initiated the game immediately after. In only two bites did their lips press firmly against each other. Keith, not knowing this until a second too late, accidentally bit Shiro’s lower lip, causing him to flinch backwards.

“Woops, sorry Shiro,” he flushed as he grabbed the other’s shoulder. “Are you bleeding?”

Shiro touched his throbbing lip a few times and checked for any signs of blood, but found nothing.

“Did that count?" Keith asked.

“Obviously not!” Shiro complained.

“Okay, doing this with broken Pocky is obviously not working.” Shiro’s heart immediately sank. “Can we skip the cookie part?”

The question didn’t register in Shiro’s brain. He continued desperately looking in the pile for a long Pocky stick until Keith’s hand wrapped firmly around his wrist, stopping him.

“Huh?” Shiro asked, finally looking up at Keith.

“I said, let’s skip the cookie biting part.”

Keith’s cheeks were flushed. Shiro blinked at the sight, unsure if he was just seeing things after consuming sugar and riding the high of kissing his long-term crush. But when the blinking didn’t make the redness in Keith’s cheeks any lighter, Shiro realized that he was staring at a legitimately bashful Keith.

A bashful Keith that had basically asked Shiro to kiss him.

“So,” Shiro started. “You want to skip to the kiss.”

It wasn’t a question. He simply paraphrased Keith, implying that he knew exactly what Keith wanted while feigning confidence he did not feel. 

“Yeah,” Keith admitted.

The Shiro in his short-circuiting brain was jumping off the walls of his skull, back-flipping and karate kicking the air in victory. He couldn’t believe his stupid plan worked.

“Okay,” Shiro said, adrenaline pumping through his veins making it difficult to form a coherent sentence. He leaned forward, and suddenly Keith was meeting him halfway. Shiro tried to hold back the dreamy sigh threatening to escape the back of his throat as he focused on the warmth of Keith’s soft flesh pressed flush against his own. 

“Wait,” Keith said against his lips. He pulled away, and Shiro childishly let out a small _I win_ as the other ran his towel through his hair one last time before discarding it altogether. “It’s weird when we’re not moving,” he admitted. Now his face was searing.

“So... should we do a normal kiss?” 

_With tongue?_

Keith’s face was beet red as he nodded. Shiro might have puked out his heart if it wasn’t attached to the middle of his chest through a complicated network of arteries, veins, and tissue. 

“Would you like to lie down, Keith? Since it seems like neither of us want to give in?” he tried to joke, but then Keith nodded again, and Shiro found himself gently pushing the other’s chest until Keith’s head was resting against his pillow. Shiro crawled on top, mind whirling and blood stirring. His skin crawled with anticipation as he kissed Keith. He felt his lower stomach grow hot as he pursued Keith’s mouth with his tongue; licking inside with a level of confidence he didn’t know he had. The two kissed for some time before Keith had to twist his head away and breathe. Both were panting heavily; bodies pressed together and chests rising and falling against each other in unison.

“Okay, you win,” Keith admitted. “Now what?”

“I like you Keith,” Shiro blurted. “I-if me initiating this stupid game wasn’t obvious enough.”

Keith tried to hide his smile with the back of his hand. He tilted his head away from Shiro to avoid eye-contact, but Shiro could tell he was pleased.

“I know. It was pretty obvious. I like you too.”

“Good,” Shiro sighed. “Because I don’t want to stop kissing you.”

Keith didn’t say anything. There was nothing more to say. He tangled his fingers between the silver hairs at the back of Shiro’s head and pulled him into a passionate kiss, the likes of which sent Shiro’s world spinning.

“Then don’t stop,” Keith breathed. And Shiro didn’t. The two kissed well into the night, opening an avenue of love to follow, and leaving Matt with the promise of several more peaceful, sleep talk-free nights.

**Author's Note:**

> @Kroligane on twitter


End file.
